1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data transmission method for transmitting encoded moving/still picture by using a wired communication network such as ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) or a wireless communication network such as PHS (Personal handy-phone System) or satellite communication and a data transmission apparatus to which such method is applied.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, with progress of digital encoding technology of a variety of information such as image and a broadband network technology, the development of applications using these technologies becomes active, and a system of transmitting compression-encoded image by utilizing a communication network is developed.
For example, an input video signal is encoded at a video encoder, the obtained encoded data is provided to an encoded data transmitter, and transmission data is transmitted to a transmission channel. In this way, a video is encoded and transmitted. In recent years, with the spread of Internet/Intranet, there has been increased an application or system of transmitting/receiving a packet of data. Providing data as a packet is very effective means for efficiently sharing a bandwidth of a communication channel by a plurality of users.
In the meantime, as a protocol for transmitting/receiving packet data via Internet/Intranet, there exists TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) or UDP/IP (User Datagram Protocol/Internet Protocol) and the like.
Among them, TCP/IP is an Internet standard protocol. This protocol is applied as the world's best known protocol to Intranet or LAN as well as Internet. TCP works in a transport layer that is a fourth layer of an OSI basic reference model, and IP works in a network layer that is a third layer.
In addition, UDP/IP is one of the TCP/IP suite transport layer protocols. TCP is a connection type protocol. UDP is a disconnection type protocol. As with TCP, a host application is identified by using a port number. This protocol is often used to carry short data for monitor control of a network or real time oriented data such as audio data or video data.
TCP/IP incorporates a frame such as retransmission. Thus, this protocol is strong against errors or the like. Even if a large amount of time is required, this protocol is effective to download type applications if an attempt is made to validly receive data. However, this protocol is not powerful for applications requiring real time properties.
In contrast, although UDP/IP does not have a retransmission frame, a delay associated with retransmission does not occur. Thus, this protocol is very effective to applications requiring real time processing.
Transmission of moving picture is exemplified as a typical example of application requiring real time processing. However, in the case of general video communication, video data has a very large amount of data, and overflows a network bandwidth in most cases. In this case, a technique for encoding a video data signal, and transmitting a reduced amount of data is used. Techniques such as motion compensation, discrete cosine transform (DCT), sub-band encoding, pyramid encoding, and variable-length encoding or a combination of these techniques are developed as compression-encoding of a video signal.
As an international standard system for moving picture encoding, there are ISO MPEG-1, MPEG-2, ITU-T H.261, H.262, and H.263. In addition, as an international standard system for multiplying an encoded data stream having a speech/audio signal compressed or other data, there are an ISO MPEG system, ITU-T H.221, and H.223.
Internet or the like is encompassed via an infinite number of networks. Usually, no one knows which network is used or what state is. In addition, an amount of data flowing a network changes from time to time. Thus, a system of judging what amount of data can be communicated in a real time is required.
Therefore, with further advancement from real time applications utilizing UDP/IP, there have been increased in number applications using a packet format called RTP (Real-time Transport Protocol) for adding and transmitting time information or the like to a packet.
This RTP is a protocol for transferring audio data signal or video data signal ruled in RFC 1889 in real time. Usually, data is carried on UDP (User Datagram Protocol). This protocol is assumed to be applied to a multimedia system such as video conference, and data can be exchanged in a real time interactive scheme. However, the protocol has no sound quality or picture quality assurance function. Sequential number or time stamp data is assigned into an RTP header, thereby supporting a read time operation.
RFC is an abbreviation of Request for Comments, and denotes a document such as technical proposal or comments disclosed by TETF (Internet Engineering Task Force). Many de-fact standards such as a variety of protocols of TCP/IP suite are described in RFC.
By utilizing this RTP, time information and a packet number are added to a packet, so that a receiver can display a voice or image by using correct time information, can determine a packet or the like whose order is replaced in a network, and can detect that a packet is lost by referring to a packet number.
Moreover, the RTP provides with a system (RTCP) for notifying network state information such as jitter or packet loss rate from a transmitter to a receiver.
However, how this RTCP information is utilized depends on applications, and is not determined in standards.
In addition, in the case of an image, a bandwidth corresponding to video transmission cannot be allocated in a network bandwidth, thus making it necessary to compress and deliver a video signal in an encoding system such as MPEG, as described previously. Although this encoding system is effective in a decreased amount of data, the system becomes very fragile to a packet loss or error entry by supplying data to unstable Internet. This is because a moving picture encoding system transmits only a difference between a current frame and a previous frame. Thus, partial data missing causes a very serious problem. In the case of using the UDP or RTP, data retransmission is not basically carried out, thus making it necessary to counteract this problem.
There generally exist two modes in picture encoding, that is, one is an inter-frame encoding mode for transmitting a difference between the current frame and the previous frame and an intra-frame encoding mode for carrying out encoding in one frame. In general, intra-frame encoded pictures are provided at a proper timing, and inter-frame encoded pictures are provided between them. An interval between the frames encoded in an intra-frame encoding mode is called a GOP (Group of Picture) interval.
When an encoded picture is missing during transmission to the decoder, the decoded picture corresponding to the missing encoded picture is destroyed. Thereafter, the intra-encoded pictures following the missing encoded picture are decoded based on the destroyed picture. Thus, all the subsequent decoding pictures are affected by the destroyed picture, and decoding cannot be carried out correctly. Therefore, an intra-frame encoded picture is inserted in the way of a stream of frames to cut off a propagation of missing error and recover adequate decoding.
In a conventional technology, it can determine that errors occur in a network. However, how to utilize the determination result has been unknown. Also, a system for notifying the network information to the transmitter in an unique format is conceived. However, the system is based on the specification of associated applications and lacks a general-purpose use. The system receives transmission data using an information receiver, and controls a video encoder within a range of the information received from the network via a transmission channel.
A conventional network condition determination is conceived on assumption of network congestion. However, since Internet is popularized in mobile environment, it is required to consider an error or the like in wireless environment. Current technique does not assume countermeasures against such error.
Further, in the case of dealing with the error, a case in which a network condition changes, and an error rate is not constant is not considered. If a short GOP interval is set in order to counteract a case in which errors frequently occur, the intra-frame encoding increases resulting in impairing the encoding efficiency. When errors occur frequently qualitatively, it may be required to establish such state in which such errors occur frequently. However, in the case of a network in which an error hardly occurs in a normal state, and an error occurs only at one moment, this setting is very wasteful. Conversely, when a long GOP interval is set, it is troublesome that a great influence occurs when an error occurs.
Thus, a real time transmission using RTP is noted. As described above, by utilizing the RTP that is a protocol for transferring audio data signal or video data signal in real time, time information and a packet number are added to a packet, whereby the receiver can display a voice or image by using correct time information, can determine a packet or the like whose order is replaced in a network, or can detect that a packet is lost by referring to a packet number.
Moreover, at the RTP, there is provided a system (RTCP) for notifying network state information such as jitter or packet loss rate from the transmitter or receiver.